The humidity builds. Clouds roll, thicken and darken. A cool breeze brings the smell of creosote, a telltale sign that rain is near.

The Sonoran Desert is particularly alluring during monsoon season. The extreme summer heat and sunshine are tempered by sporadic overcast skies and rains – allowing the outdoor – loving desert dwellers a brief chance to catch a rare moist and fragrant mid-morning or afternoon run, bike ride or hike. It is a beautiful and important time of year for replenishing the deserts water stores, but the cocktail can be a deadly beast of her own.

Monsoons in southern Arizona are caused by the rising hot air over the desert and the cooler Pacific Ocean air rushing in to fill the vacuum, according to The University of Arizona Climate Assessment for the Southwest called CLIMAS. Monsoons, from an Arabic word meaning season, happen similarly in other parts of the globe with geographical features like Tucson’s, according to the National Weather Service. The cool air warms from the heat of the desert land, causing thunderstorms and rains. Cooler air atop the warming air sinks, warms and further aids the thunderstorm production, and creates another vacuum higher in the atmosphere to draw more cool Pacific air. It is a tango between cool oceanic air and hot desert air, dancing within the high mountains that surround the Tucson basin.

A Harrowing Tale of Monsoon

It was a couple weeks into monsoon when four day hikers set out to find Seven Falls, part of Sabino Canyon Recreational Area in Tucson. The hike was on the heels of a particularly stormy day the previous week. The falls were sure to be running.

Seven Falls is on the Bear Canyon Trail, 2.5 miles from the trail head, 4.5 total miles from the parking area. Its name portrays its structure: seven cascading waterfalls streaming down from the Catalina Mountains, having chiseled the granite rock over time.

Two of us had attempted the hike months prior, but the waterfalls were dry with a few stagnant pools of water. The sun and heat had chased us out of the chasm, dehydrated and sunburnt.

When the rains and cooler temperatures came, we thought this was a better time to revisit Seven Falls. As transplants to the desert and beginning hikers, we were not aware of the dangers of hiking in a canyon during monsoon.

We had checked the weather before we left the house at 6 a.m. (30 percent chance of rain). We set out with a plan to turn around or climb to higher ground should the sky turn ominous or the water rise. Neither happened. The sky was overcast and there were no warning signs of the torrential downpour we never knew happened and the subsequent flash flood that changed many lives.

That morning (Aug. 4, 2007) the desert was alive and active after the cooling mid-week rains. We saw a Gila Monster, a desert tortoise and a plethora of lizards before even reaching the trailhead. A rattlesnake coiled just off the path, sounding his alarm. A rich red cardinal kept watch from the reach of a mesquite tree. The river flowed, but not so much that upwards of 50 hikers could make the many river crossings safely by jumping from rock to rock.

We were amongst many others at Seven Falls when the dark, violent water thundered over the 3rd waterfall. We had not felt a drop of rain, saw no black clouds, nor heard a clap of thunder in Bear Canyon; however, we learned later that a sudden super storm had formed miles upstream on Mt. Lemmon. It had raged on for an hour causing a 10-foot surge in the river, carrying the debris flow that contributed to the thunderous sound. This thunderous sound of the water raging down the narrow canyon and waterfalls was the only warning for those along the canyon – a warning that came too late for our two hiking companions.

Sitting on the slide rock at the base of the tall waterfall, the first edge of the 10-foot wall of water squeezed through the narrow canyon and came down with a splash and noticeable drop in temperature. That first splash swept my friend Angela Knoche, 19, off the slide rock where she had been dangling her feet into the water. In seconds, Knoche was downriver, reaching her hands out to Tim Hahn, 25. Hahn had lunged to grab her hands in time, but the swift water proved too powerful pulling Knoche out of Hahn’s grasp, yanking Hahn into the flood. Neither survived. Many hearts were broken: ours, wrenched in guilt.

Monsoon Safety: “Turn Around, Don’t Drown”

Though the stormy season provides a relief from the obvious dangers of extreme heat and sun, monsoon brings a few risks of its own: microbursts of air causing intense wind gusts and blowing dust clouds called haboobs, lightning and wildfires, and, as illustrated above, deadly flash floods. Flash floods are the number one weather-related cause of death in the country, according to a Monsoon Safety brochure published by Pima County Regional Flood Control District. It is important to note that flash floods can appear miles from a monsoon storm with no warning signs.

The monsoon period for Arizona is June 15 through September 30th, according to CLIMAS. We are in the heart of it right now.

Tips for Monsoon Safety:

1. Sign up for severe weather notifications, such as text message alerts from Tucson News Now. Make a personal policy to stay safely indoors when warnings are issued. Check for watches prior to outdoor activities in a flood-prone area such as hiking, biking, or running in canyons or low-level run-off areas like Agua Caliente Wash.

2. Visit the National Weather Service’s Tucson Monsoon Information to learn more about the unpredictable forces of the season. Also available are interactive weather and hazard maps for the local area, including the mountains and canyons.

3. View a floodplain map for the areas you live, drive through, and recreate. Pima County Regional Flood Control District’s website houses an interactive map function for finding the flood plains near any address within an incorporated Pima County as well as provides a Monsoon Safety brochure with a list of flooding crossroads.

Over the last 10 months, Doug Dalrymple took photos of North America’s industrial workers while diligently pedaling across the United States.

His solo journey started in New York. He visited more than 80 factories while covering almost 10,000 miles through 24 states and Canada.

One of Dalrymple’s stops was in Tucson, where he took pictures of workers producing leather goods at Allegiant Brand Leather.

Doug Dalrymple has traveled across the country on a photo taking adventure. Photo by Doug Dalrymple

“Arizona was really a good state for me,” Dalrymple said. “Politically, it may have a bad rep, and I was not sure if I’d have fun there, but the people were really respectful and understanding of what I was doing.”

Dalyrmple aspires to collect his best photos of his arduous journey and display them in a photo exhibit in Manhattan with a book release later in his native Brooklyn.

The motivation for his project came from two sources – his upbringing and his extensive bicycling background.

He was exposed to life in a family of industrial workers with his parents working as machine operators in a factory. One of his grandfathers worked in a General Motors factory. His bicycling background includes working as a bike messenger in New York City, where he developed an interest of taking photos of people on the street from an artistic point of view.

“When I stopped working as a bike messenger, I became a production room assistant for a clothing company in Manhattan’s Garment District, and I noticed all of these Chinese immigrants working hard cutting and sewing clothes,” Dalrymple said. “These people work so hard and do not get a lot of fanfare.

“The company they work for gets most of the attention. Every day, I saw them making the stuff we need and not getting any attention for it. That’s when I developed the idea to do portraits of factory workers because these people are very important to our country. We should support products made in the USA and these people should be recognized.”

With his workmanlike bike journey across the southern part of the U.S., Dalrymple knows all about the rigors of hard work behind the scenes. He worked as a dish washer, delivery-truck driver and bartender in New York City.

His time as a bike messenger spurred his interest to tour while riding a bike. He became involved with many aspects of bicycling, including playing bike polo on Sundays at a park in Brooklyn. Dalrymple took a brief break during a tour of factories near San Francisco to fly back to New York in June to serve as an organizer for Red Bull’s Mini Drome event.

“After being on my own and being self-sufficient for the first 253 days of the tour, I needed to work for Red Bull on the event from an economic standpoint,” Dalrymple said. “I needed to make some money and also take a break to reevaluate where I am at with the project.”

He contemplated that if he performs a similar tour again, he will combine the use of a truck with riding a bicycle instead of only pedaling the long stretch of the U.S.

“There are a lot of hindrances with only riding a bike,” Dalrymple said. “The weather plays a factor by being constantly exposed to freezing conditions in the winter. I must take minimal camera equipment, which limits how I can shoot. On my bike I have my sleeping bag, tent, cooking pot and stove, food, clothing, tool kit, first aid kit, shower kit and bottles to carry my water.

“All of that is not super heavy or clumsy. I just believe that with the use of a truck it would help me be more efficient overall transporting what I need. I can also turn back if necessary, if a company nearby communicates to me that I can visit their factory. I can’t do that on a bike if a location three, four or five days behind me asks me to come in. I have no time to go back and forth on a bicycle.”

Conversely, Dalrymple acknowledged traveling only by bicycle allowed him to save money on a journey that took him to the northeast, south, southwest and Pacific coast. With no sponsors or funding, Dalrymple camped at every stop.

Dalrymple, who uses his bike as a means for transportation in New York City, has not owned a vehicle in nine years and does not have a driver’s license.

“I know with owning a truck, the cost of the project would increase by having to buy insurance and filling up the gas tank often,” he said. “But I also know that having a truck means I could have additional camera gear which would enhance my photos. It’s just something I am evaluating right now.”

The daily six-hour rides allowed Dalrymple time to stop to take the photos of the factory workers and to set up his camp site. The opportunity to communicate with the workers, and come to appreciate more what they perform motivated him each day to continue to the next destination.

He observed a variety of workers from a one-man operation making boxer shorts to companies that have more than 250 industrial workers.

“The workers appreciated that I took portraits of who they truly are, as hard workers, making the things we use every day,” Dalrymple said. “From the time I took portraits of people on the streets as a bike messenger in New York City, I have never been into making anything gimmicky.

“I wanted to showcase them as they truly are in the factory. They are the backbone of our society. I wanted to basically show that, ‘Hey, this is John. He makes ceiling fans in Lexington, Ky.’ I support the wave of energy working toward domestic manufacturing. Why not buy quality plates made by the hard-working folks at Fiesta Ware in West Virginia, for example, instead of buying cheap plates that are imported from overseas?”

Our community is recognized as a leading bicycle capital, attracting people from around the world. This bond will improve road conditions and widen and increase the number of bicycle paths making our county “the gateway to southern Arizona and Mexico.” Additionally, the passage of the bond will make our roads safer for bicyclists and motorists.

When out of town bicyclists experience one of our cycling events – like El Tour de Tucson – they often come back again and again with their families, friends and business colleagues to enjoy the many different attractions of Pima County, including resorts, museums, zoo, national and local parks, and The Loop, a 55-mile bicycle and pedestrian, shared-use path around Tucson.

Proposition #428, together with private donations, would fund a new Arizona Bicycle Center-Velodrome (ABC) that will help elevate Tucson/Pima County from a “Gold” to a “Platinum” bicycle-friendly community, as ranked by The League of American Bicyclists.

ABC will provide an opportunity to attract an international field of racers to compete in a “World Cup” event creating funding that will support the Center’s mission as an educational institute where our youth of Pima County will learn about health, nutrition and safety that will supplement the physical education programs of our local schools. ABC will be a nexus of health and wellness in our county.

Your “yes” vote on Proposition #428 and the other six propositions will enhance the health and well-being of our county.

Fred Van Meerbake was determined to be the first to ride from New York City to San Francisco. He was on an “ordinary” bike, the high front-wheeled predecessor of today’s bicycle. At the time, soldiers in the Arizona territory were still pursuing Geronimo. This was the first bicycle seen around Tucson. The year was 1886.

A year later the “safety bicycle,” with two equally sized wheels and a drive train was invented in England. In 1892, the Tucson Cycling Club was formed with 60 members. Sabino Canyon was a favorite ride back then. It took two hours each way.

The first bike shop in Arizona, Landis’ Cyclery, started in 1912 by Benjamin Harrison, grandfather of the current owners Dick and Bob Landis. By the 1920s, seven bike shops existed in Phoenix as bike racing was increasing in popularity.

On May 1, 1921 the longest bicycle race – to date – was held in Arizona. It went from Tucson to Phoenix. The overall distance was 144 miles. On rutty trails, 27 racers entered, three finished. In 1929, Russell & Shepard opened in Tucson as the first merchant to sell bikes in town.

In 1954, the ATO fraternity commenced an annual tradition of sponsoring a bicycle relay race between Arizona State and the University of Arizona on the Saturday of the ASU-UA football game. The race occurred from the visiting school to the school at which the game was to be played. Each team consisted of 10 participants. The race continued until 1963 when the interstate highway was constructed over parts of the route.

Two-dozen bike shops existed in Tucson in the early 1970s. On Oct. 31, 1970 in a Tucson Daily Citizen article, it was noted “bicycles are swarming all over the U of A as students take to pedals to avoid auto congestion. The ‘fad’ caught on as a personal campaign against air-polluting cars and as a handy means of exercise.”

On Nov. 15, 1971, Bicycle Week went to Scottsdale thanks to a petition requesting a study by Mayor B.L. Tims. It was to determine the possibility of recreational bike trails throughout Scottsdale. On March 8, 1974, new recreational bike paths were recommended in Phoenix.

Also in 1974, the Pima Association of Governments initiated the Tucson Region Bikeways Plan proposing 400 miles of bikeway system in both the city and county. Nationally and locally, cycling interests were escalating thanks to the 10-speed bike. At the time, 36 percent of people in Tucson owned a bike. One thousand people per day were using the two main bike paths of Mountain and Third Avenues.

Andy Gilmour, a custom frame builder, started Gilmour Bicycles in 1974. Fair Wheel Bikes on 6th Street opened around the same time with students and the emerging racing community as a primary customer base. Broadway Bikes, then on east Broadway (now on Sarnoff and Broadway), opened to serve the east side cycling community.

Other multispecialty shops in Tucson also emerged, many carrying other items such as motorcycles, lawn mowers, hardware, skate boards and BMX equipment. An early entrepreneur, K.L.Hart, promoted himself as a dealer in “guns, bicycles and revolvers.” Eventually, the demand for an efficient and fun way to get around enabled independent specialty bike shops to thrive.

“I started out racing and found an opportunity to start a bike shop,” said Ralph Phillips, owner of Fair Wheel Bikes, “It was a passion for me.”

Back then, it was a labor of love for Phillips as professional racers/riders discovered Tucson as a training place. In the early 90s, he realized the Internet was evolving and he started an online business which now accounts for half his business.

“We sell all over the world,” Phillips said.

In 1983, El Tour de Tucson started, and a few hundred cyclists participated to enjoy a day of traffic-free cycling while benefitting charities. Also in the 1980s, the Tucson Bicycle Police was initiated. It started generations of police officers who understand cycling and have become ambassadors for bicycling citywide.

Pima County, the City of Tucson, the City of South Tucson, Marana and Oro Valley have been instrumental in supporting bicycling and walking trails. The Loop has become wildly popular with more than 110 miles of paths completed.

Broadway Bicycles started selling skateboards, BMX bikes and road bikes. According to general manager Scott Johnson, “what really changed our mix of customers was the popularity of mountain biking in Marin county and Greg LeMond winning Tour de France. At that time, we really moved from a predominantly BMX shop to a specialty bicycling shop as the demand for quality mountain and road bikes escalated.”

Dick Landis, co-owner of Landis Cyclery, with four stores in the Phoenix area, states, “a bicycle is merely the most efficient way to get from one place to another. Certainly ASU students found getting around on a bicycle affordable and efficient but with advent of the 10 speed and the baby boomers coming of age, cycling just took off.”

Tucson’s region boasts more than 1,000 miles of bicycle infrastructure and 10 cycling camps, while the UA campus has over 11,000 bike racks. The Phoenix area has over 3,500 miles of paved bicycling infrastructure and more than 20,000 bicycle parking spaces on the various ASU campuses.

All the experts agree, with Arizona municipalities supportive of an ever-expanding bicycling infrastructure — ideal weather, the escalating costs in owning, fueling and parking an automobile, health and fitness and most of all, a bicycle’s efficiency and sense of freedom — the popularity of bicycling in Arizona will continue to grow for years to come.

]]>http://www.perimeterbicycling.com/blog/2015/04/28/an-arizona-bicycling-history/feed/0Going The Distance For Pam Reed Has Never Been A Problemhttp://www.perimeterbicycling.com/blog/2015/04/28/going-the-distance-for-pam-reed-has-never-been-a-problem/
http://www.perimeterbicycling.com/blog/2015/04/28/going-the-distance-for-pam-reed-has-never-been-a-problem/#commentsWed, 29 Apr 2015 04:42:58 +0000http://www.perimeterbicycling.com/?p=10840Continue reading →]]>Article by Anthony Gimino Photography by Jeff Diener

Pam Reed’s quads felt like they had given out. She was trying to run, but her legs had other ideas, merely wanting to shuffle along the trail, as if they had fallen asleep.

“It just frustrates me,” she said.

Reed prepares for a run along the Snake River in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Well perhaps she can be forgiven. It was halfway through a 100-mile run, after all.

Reed, at 54, renowned for her distance running and as one of the greatest endurance athletes in the country, continues to (mostly) out-run Father Time. Slow down? Not a chance. A week after running in that 100-mile event on the outskirts of the Zion National Park in southern Utah on April 10, she talked about everything else on her calendar:

A half-Ironman triathlon in early May, perhaps a 50-mile race, a half-marathon in June, a 50K race later that month, then the prestigious Western States 100-mile endurance run at the end of June … and then, starting on July 10, comes the Hardrock 100-mile test in Silverton, Colo., a trail that includes a 34,000-foot climb, followed by the corresponding descent.

“It’s the hardest 100 in the country,” she said. “You have 48 hours to finish it.”

Makes you tired just thinking about it.

It’s nothing new for Reed. When she was 41, the Tucsonan became the first woman to win the grueling 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon through Death Valley in July. After doing something like that, what’s a 100-mile “stroll” through the beauty of southern Utah?

“I just had a really tough time,” she said. “I think I’m going to have this easy time, and it just isn’t. It was one of the most difficult. It just took so much effort for me to finish this one. …

“I don’t know what happened in this race. I talk to other crazies like me — people who run Ironmans or a lot of ultras — when you have a day like you had, it’s kind of scary because you think it is over. Is this what it’s always going to be like? Am I not going to feel good doing these?

Reed gets intense as she poses for a photo shoot.

“I finished and my time was good, but there was just something in this run that didn’t feel great and it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, I hope I don’t feel like this next time.'”

She probably won’t.

Reed remains in a great place, physically, emotionally and professionally. Not quite four years ago, after a hamstring injury, she discovered hot yoga, which she says she practices religiously, especially when she and her husband spend time living in Jackson, Wyoming.

“I recommend that highly to people,” she said of hot yoga, performed at 104 degrees.

“It’s really helped me, helped my life, my body. It has helped strengthen and balance me again. And it really works on your breathing, which has really helped me a lot in running.”

Other than that, age is just a number to her.

“From my ages of 45 to about 50, I was having a hard time,” she said. “I was doing triathlons, Ironmans, 100s, and I was feeling it. I was feeling old. I kept saying, ‘I’m old and slow. I’m old and slow.’ Then one day, I just decided I wasn’t going to say that anymore. I stopped saying that, stopped focusing on that, and I got better.”

The bulk of Reed’s fame was gained through running but she espouses the virtues of cross-training for any level of athlete.

“When I do an Ironman, my bike time is in the top three in my age group, and I don’t do a lot of training on my bike,” she said.

“This is what I think: If you put too much stock in one thing, you become obsessed mentally about doing it. Cycling is kind of a sidebar to me, yet I do really well at it, and I think it’s because I don’t over-think it. I just get on a bike and ride. If you just let it go, it happens.”

Reeds starts yet another long run in preparation for another event.

Reed just keeps going and going and going. Earlier this year, she competed in the Arrowhead 135-Mile Winter Ultra Marathon in Minnesota, finishing in 47 hours, 11 minutes.

She has big plans for Tucson, too.

Reed, the co-owner and director of the Tucson Marathon, has run the El Tour de Tucson cycling event in the past, covering more than 100 miles before the cyclists hit the course. She has a new idea for this year’s El Tour — full details to come — about holding a three-day triathlon, with El Tour serving as the cycling leg. The swimming and running parts of the triathlon would sandwich the Saturday bike event.

“I do think this would be a fun kind of thing. I really want it to happen,” she said.

“I think this is a cool idea. El Tour is so popular, and if we can put these other two things together with it, it’s exciting.”

Last week we received a visit from Sherry Grijalva ~ mother of 2014 El Tour de Tucson 1st place finisher Philip Tinstman ~ she had just finished the quilt she had made from her son’s championship jerseys and event T-shirts and she wanted to share it with us before delivering it to Philip in San Marcos, CA next month. Richard DeBernardis was so impressed with quilt that he asked if she would like to display it at the El Tour de Mesa Dedication Dinner.

“Making a jersey quilt was not as easy as a T-shirt quilt because I had to cut the pieces into different shapes and sizes and sew them together like a jigsaw puzzle,” Sherry explained. The patches came from a collection of jerseys from events he competed in from 18 – 40 years of age. “There was only one jersey with his name on it so I put it in the center and worked out from there.” The project was a 5-month labor of love from November to April.

The quilt includes the 2014 El Tour de Tucson T-shirt with “Race Winner” above and “Bucket List” below. There are mountain and road bike events represented included a California and Nevada District Championships, the Sea Otter Classic; The Valley of the Sun, and Ironhorse and so many more.

The back of the quilt is decorated with prints of bikes and wheels with the messages: “Enjoy the Ride” and “It’s not the destination it’s the journey”. Sherry was at quite a few of these races when he first started. “He quit baseball in high school to ride his mountain bike. It was hard for me to cut them up. But making it [the quilt] was a journey for me, too.”

“Both of my kids started out in BMX when they were small, then went onto mountain bikes, then he [Philip] went on to road bikes,” she said. Daughter Amber Tinstman still competes in enduro races ~ both Philip and Amber are now in their 40s.

Philip Tinstman works for one of his sponsors, Spy Optics and races for MRI Endurance Elite Masters Team.

“I’m just so proud of Phillip,” Sherry said. “I think this will be something he can pass down to his kids and their kids also. When I told him I was coming to the Dedication Dinner, Philip said ‘Oh, mom you’re going to have a great time! You’ll love it.'”

Megan Canterbury, media intern at Perimeter Bicycling, and her mom Mindy Blake (former CBS-Tucson anchorwoman). While Mindy rode the 28-mile ride, Megan announced cyclist’s names as they crossed the finish line. After graduating from the University of Arizona next month, Megan is moving to Seattle in June to pursue her passion for photography and videography. Thanks, Megan for your great work and enthusiasm ~ we’ll miss you. We think you may also have a future on-air!

MESA, Ariz. Richard DeBernardis, founder & executive director, announced that 1,594 event participants, the largest in event history, enjoyed a picture perfect day on April 11 to celebrate the 25th year of the Valley’s premier Perimeter Bicycling event ~ Holualoa Companies El Tour de Mesa.

Sunny skies and a cool start helped make it a day to remember.

This year’s event was dedicated to the Honorable Scott Smith, Mayor of Mesa 2008-2014, for changing the city into a more bicycle friendly community.

Cyclists had their choice of a 72-mile or 28-mile distance. The longer ride started and finished in downtown Mesa, following a scenic course through the Lower Salt River Recreation Area and Tonto National Forest. The shorter course started at Red Mountain Ranch Elementary School in Mesa and also finished downtown.

Craig Streit, 37, of Scottsdale was the first male finisher for the fifth year in a row!

The crowds witnessed an exciting finish as at least 10 riders in the lead group crossed the finish line with Craig Streit first at 2:58:40. This makes five individual men’s titles in a row for Streit, 37, Scottsdale. Kyle Reedy, 35, Mesa, took second place for the second year in a row in a time of 2:58:42.03 while Joe Susco, 41, Mesa, rounded out the men’s podium in a time of 2:58:42.51. (All times are unofficial pending confirmation.)

For the fourth year Mesa resident Kimberly Johnson, 36, was on the podium ~ first for women in the 72-miler with a time of 3:01:10 for defense of her title. Her first finishes are 2012, 2014, 2015, finished second in 2013. Johnson was eighty-second overall and just 2 ½ minutes behind the overall leader. Jennifer Camoriano, 42, Mesa, was second for women with 3:03:24 while Allison Wilson of Tucson rounded out the women’s podium with a time of 3:03:25. All three top female finishers broke the previous women’s record on course that was two miles longer!

In the 28 miler, first place male went to Morgan Mayberry 18, of St, David, AZ at 1:15:06. Second and third place finishers shared the same time with Mayberry – Louis Spencer Smith, 54, Flagstaff and Dave Goedecke, 50, of Pinetop.

The women’s 28-mile division saw Melinda Kennedy, 44, from Phoenix take the top place female win in 1:19:07. Second place woman was Tui Marion, 36, from Queen Creek coming in at 1:24:04 and Tristin Oldani from Chandler took third in 1:24:24.

In addition to the awards for the top finishers in the 72 and 28-mile events, Perimeter Bicycling recognizes the accomplishments and contributions of many including awards for the top tandem teams, El Tour Junior Awards, Most Distinguished Awards, Desert Tortoise, Volunteer of the Year, Outstanding Bike Patrol, and more.

The May/June issue of Tail Winds will include full coverage of El Tour de Mesa, CycloMesa, and the El Tour Criterium presented by Two-wheel Jones. Registered riders will receive a copy of Tail Winds in the mail. You can pick up a copy at your local bike shop or read Tail Winds online.

Check your results and MarathonFotos (enter event name: Holualoa Companies El Tour de Mesa 2015) ! We’ve posted videos and photos on Facebook. Share your stories and photos. Many of the top finishers in the El Tour Criterium went on to duke it out on the El Tour de Mesa course. Congratulations, Travis Jones (of Two-wheel Jones) on another great race! We enjoyed sharing the start/finish line with you.

As central Arizona’s premier springtime cycling event, El Tour de Mesa had the help of over 400 volunteers. Since its inception, the event has welcomed more than 22,000 participants and has raised nearly $450,000 for charities. This year’s event benefits Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Uphill Into the Wind, Phoenix Children’s Hospital Foundation, The Bahati Foundation, and Perimeter Bicycling Association of America.

]]>http://www.perimeterbicycling.com/blog/2015/04/15/record-attendance-at-holualoa-companies-25th-el-tour-de-mesa/feed/0Arizona Bicycle Center & Velodrome Still Needs Your Help!http://www.perimeterbicycling.com/blog/2015/03/18/arizona-bicycle-center-velodrome-still-needs-your-help/
http://www.perimeterbicycling.com/blog/2015/03/18/arizona-bicycle-center-velodrome-still-needs-your-help/#commentsWed, 18 Mar 2015 21:28:42 +0000http://www.perimeterbicycling.com/?p=6485Continue reading →]]>If you are a resident within the City of Tucson and/or Pima County, please take a few minutes of your time to support the Arizona Bicycle Center (ABC) & Velodrome project which is included in the proposed bond package for 2015.

The ABC is a multi-use facility which will include a classroom space for teaching bicycle safety classes, space for skill practice and a velodrome. It will be an excellent resource for youth and cyclists of all ages and abilities ~ from beginners to elite athletes.

Our local elected officials are in the process of determining whether to put the issue of a bond package before the voters in the November 2015 election. The proposed bond package would provide funding for a variety of important and meaningful community projects, including the proposed Arizona Bicycle Center & Velodrome. We are encouraging voters to voice their support for the proposed bond package.

You can help by emailing members of the Pima County Board of Supervisors and the Tucson City Council to urge their support for putting the bond package to a vote in 2015. Please send the message below to the Pima County Board of Supervisors and other local elected officials.

You can copy and paste the following message into your email, or revise it as you please. The most important thing is to let the Pima County Board of Supervisors and the Tucson City Council know you want to have a voice with your vote:

Thank you for the work you are doing on behalf of our community.

I am writing to ask you to please support placing a bond package before voters in November 2015. The bond includes many projects important to Tucson and Pima County, especially for bicycling, economic growth, health and wellness, tourism and quality of life.

I am in support of a bond election in 2015. Please let the voices of the voters be heard.

Perimeter Bicycling will discontinue the production of a “Vegas” perimeter bicycling event in 2015 due to insufficient financial and in-kind support from the local municipalities of Las Vegas.

In February 2014, the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) of Southern Nevada, producers of Viva Bike Vegas, announced that they would no longer coordinate the event. Because of a strong friendly working relationship between Perimeter and RTC over the past seven years, Perimeter offered to keep Viva going for another year as long as there was financial and in-kind support to cover a portion of the traffic control and safety equipment expenses. RTC, City of Las Vegas, City of Henderson and VisitVegas.com agreed to the proposal and Perimeter Bicycling produced the Viva Bike Vegas on InterBike weekend, September 13, 2014.

A diverse and beautiful course challenged more than 380 cyclists who bicycled 101-, 62- or 25-miles circling the perimeter of Las Vegas and passing by the magnificent peaks of Red Rock Canyon. Although temperatures reached 100 degrees on ride day, the event was an incredible experience for all involved.

Perimeter began negotiating at the beginning of 2015 with the four main partners to continue the event under the condition that Perimeter would be given the same amount of financial and in-kind support as 2014. Earlier this month Perimeter was notified that the same amount of funding would not be available in 2015. Therefore, Perimeter decided it wasn’t able to produce the Vegas event this year.

Richard DeBernardis, President & Founder of Perimeter Bicycling Association of America, Inc., said, “Sadly, Perimeter will not produce a 2015 perimeter event in Las Vegas. We loved working with everyone in the Vegas community. We’re a small non-profit organization that relies on the support of local municipalities in order to produce an event of this stature. El Tour de Tucson and El Tour de Mesa are what they are today because the local municipalities support these events through City, County, and/or convention & visitor bureau funding. Without municipal support, Perimeter Bicycling is unable to produce events like this.”

Perimeter receives many calls each year asking for an El Tour event in their community. Most individuals are surprised to find out that Perimeter requires funds from local groups for such events and that Perimeter does not produce these events pro-bono. DeBernardis added that while Perimeter would love to do so, the reality is “someone has to pay for it.” Perimeter events rely on partners and sponsors to help reduce the cost of production expenses, otherwise cyclists would have to pay a $200 – $250 entry fee per event. “Perimeter events are partnerships with cyclists, businesses, local municipalities and non-profits that benefit from the event,” DeBernardis said. “Not one sector can pay for an event of this magnitude. It’s an expensive proposition, but well-worth the many benefits including economic impact, fundraising, publicity, education, safety development, and health and wellness. El Tour events are investments in the well being of a community.”

Special thanks go to the partners of the 2014 Viva Bike Vegas: RTC, City of Henderson, City of Las Vegas and VisitVegas.com; and the beneficiaries: Discovery Children’s Museum, League of American Bicyclists and Safe Nest for their help, support and promotion of the ride; and to our wonderful major sponsors including: Zappos.com, Caesars Entertainment, The LINQ, Land Rover Las Vegas, and KTNV Channel 13. You’re all awesome! Thanks for the adventure and experience!